The present invention relates to toys and more specifically, to a spacer for building a toy yo-yo in combination with compact discs.
A compact disc (CD) is a disc developed by Sony and Philips that can store, on the same disc, still and/or moving images in monochrome and/or color; stereo or two separate sound tracks integrated with and/or separate from the images; and digital program and information files. A standard compact disc has a diameter of 4.72 inches. Other, less popular sizes exist.
Compact discs are so economical to produce that they have flooded the consumer and commercial markets as advertising and demonstration tools, and for use in one-time software installation. Consumers receive so many compact discs in the mail or with purchased products that they may have no use for these compact discs. The present invention provides a use for these compact discs. More specifically, the present invention provides for a spacer which can be used to build a toy yo-yo by clipping or gluing the compact discs to the outer sidewalls of the spacer.
Toy yo-yos or bandilures date back to at least to the 1800s. Such spinning toys are well known and are generally made by two sidewalls, a central axis and a string. The string is wrapped about the central axis tautly. A user then unrolls the string in a downward fashion, thus spinning the sidewalls and central axis. Then, with a generally upward motion at the end of the string, the user gently pulls on the string such that the central axis begins to rewind up the string. Toy yo-yos are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 179,377; 1,311,534; 4,393,618 and 4,555,235. Building a toy yo-yo or bandilure is not inventive, however, building a toy yo-yo as a method of reusing compact discs for another purpose is the primary intent of the present invention. It is the intent of the present invention to not only recycle unneeded compact discs, but to also provide a toy for amusement purposes.
The present invention provides for a spacer for building a toy yo-yo. The spacer comprises a central axis for receiving a tether string for wrapping around the central axis and two outer sidewalls. Each outer sidewall has an attachment hub disposed on the outer sidewall for receiving a compact disc. The diameter of the outer sidewalls may have the same diameter as the central axis, or may be other diameters or shapes. The attachment hub may be a compact disc clip. Alternatively, the attachment hub may be a generally cylindrically shaped body sized to snugly receive a central hole of a compact disc so that the compact disc may be glued to the outer sidewall while being kept snugly in place against the outer sidewall. The attachment hub may be a compact disc clip, and the compact disc clip may be a deflectable hub with at least one slit which eases removal and attachment of the compact disc and engages the compact disc to hold the compact disc securely in place.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides for a toy yo-yo having a spacer. The spacer includes a central axis for receiving a tether string for wrapping around the central axis and two outer sidewalls. Each outer sidewall has an attachment hub disposed on the outer sidewall. The diameter of the outer sidewalls may have the same diameter as the central axis, or may be other diameters or shapes. The toy yo-yo also comprises two compact discs, and each compact disc is attached to one of the outer sidewalls. The toy yo-yo may have an attachment hub that is a compact disc clip. Alternatively, the toy yo-yo may have an attachment hub that is a generally cylindrically shaped body sized to snugly receive a central hole of a compact disc so that the compact disc may be glued to the outer sidewall while being kept snugly in place against the outer sidewall.
An alternate embodiment of the present invention provides for a kit for building a toy yo-yo. The kit for building a toy yo-yo comprises a spacer including a central axis for receiving a tether string for wrapping around the central axis, two outer sidewalls each having an attachment hub disposed on the outer sidewall, and instructions for attaching two compact discs to each of the outer sidewalls. The diameter of the outer sidewalls may have the same diameter as the central axis, or may be other diameters or shapes.